gp^KMAN  CLUB  PUBLICATIONS 


No.  1. 


Milwaukee,  Wis.,  Dec.  10,  1895 


Nicholas  Perrot 

A  STUDY  IN  WISCONSIN  HISTORY 

GARDNER  Ps  STICKNEY 

\  Councilor  American  Folk-Lore  Society 


[Copyright,  1896,  by  Gardner  P. 


NICHOLAS  PERROT. 


A.  STUDY  IN  WISCONSIN  HISTORY. 


Chief  among  the  many  treasures  of  the  Wisconsin  Historical  So  ¬ 
ciety  is  a  silver  monstrance  or  ostensorium,  fifteen  inches  in  height, 
and  weighing  more  than  twenty  ounces.  It  is  elaborately  made  in 
French  repousse.  From  an  oval  base  rises  a  standard,  nine  inches 
high,  supporting  a  circular,  radiated,  glazed  rim,  which  is  in  turn 
surmounted  by  a  cross.  This  was  used  to  hold  the  sacred  wafer 
when  at  the  celebration  of  the  sacrament  it  was  exposed  to  the  view 
of  the  pious  worshippers;  and  was  called  a  soleil  from  its  supposed 
ray-like  resemblance  to  the  sun,  and  monstrance  because  it  was  used 
to  demonstrate  the  body  of  Christ.  This  particular  monstrance  was 
once  the  property  of  the  Jesuit  mission  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  on  the 
lower  Fox.  Buried  in  the  earth  on  the  burning  of  the  mission  in 
1687,  it  was  not  recovered  until  1802,  when  it  was  found  by  some 
workmen  digging  a  foundation.  Then  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
Grignon  family,  and  was  occasionally  used  by  some  itinerant  priest 
until  it  was  taken  to  Detroit  in  1828.  Ten  years  later  Father  Bon- 
duel  redeemed  it  for  twenty-six  dollars,  and  carried  it  back  to  Green 
Bay.  There  it  remained  until  it  was  sent  to  its  present  resting  place, 
only  a  few  years  ago.1 

According  to  Prof.  Butler,  but  four  memorials  older  than  this 
monstrance  remain  to  prove  the  early  presence  of  white  men  within 
Wisconsin  borders.  Of  these,  two  are  maps,  both  preserved  in 
archives  in  Paris,  one  showing  Lake  Superior  as  it  was  understood 
in  1671,  the  other  giving  “the  Messipi  where  the  Misconsing  comes 
in'  in  1679;  a  third  of  these  memorials  is  Marquette’s  manuscript  of 
his  journey  down  the  Mississippi  in  1673;  this  was  written  at  Green 
Bay  during  the  following  winter,  and  is  now  preserved  in  the  college 
of  St.  Mary  at  Montreal;  and  the  fourth  is  Joliet’s  journal  of  the 
same  trip,  written  in  Paris  in  1674,  and  now  in  the  seminary  of  St. 
Sulpice  at  Paris. 

Around  the  rim  of  the  base  of  the  monstrance  these  words  are 
rudely  but  clearly  engraved  in  French:  “This  soleil  was  given  by 
Mr.  Nicholas  Perrot  to  the  mission  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  at  the 
Bay  of  the  Puans,  1686.”2 

1.  Cf.  Prof  J.  D.  Butler,  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  Volume  VIII,  np. 
199  et  seq. 

2.  Pictures  of  the  monstrance  and  its  bottom,  showing  the  inscription,  are 
given  In  Winsor’s  Narrative  and  Crit  cal  History,  Volume  IV,  pages  192  and  193. 


2  NICHOLAS  PERROT. 

When  the  monstrance  was  found  in  1802,  but  little  was  known 
about  Nicholas  Perrot;  but  the  painstaking  investigation  of  recent 
years  has  brought  to  light  many  interesting  facts  concerning  him. 

His  name  is  continually  found  in  the  records  of  Canada  from 
1665  to  1700,  and  always  in  an  honorable,  often  an  important,  connec¬ 
tion.  His  integrity  and  ability  were  unquestioned.  His  influence 
with  the  Indians  was  unequalled,  even  Du  Lhut  being  obliged  at  one 
time  to  call  for  his  assistance.  His  patience  and  courage,  and  his 
calmness  under  misfortune  alike  command  our  admiration. 

The  most  successful  of  all  the  French  emissaries  among  the 
Western  Indians3  Perrot  was  a  man  of  humble  birth.  So  unimportant 
did  he  seem  that  neither  his  parentage,  the  place  of  his  birth,  nor  the 
year  of  his  arrival'  in  New  France  is  matter  of  record,  so  far  as  re¬ 
cent  research  has  been  able  to  ascertain.  Tailhan  thus  introduces 
his  biographical  sketch: 

“Nicolas  Perrot,  born  in  1644,  came  to  New  France,  in  wh.it 
year  I  know  not;  he  belonged  to  an  honest  family,  but  one  of  small 
fortune;  so,  after  receiving  some  instruction  in  letters,  he  was  obliged 
to  interrupt  his  studies  to  enter  the  service  of  the  missionaries.”4 

This  service  among  the  missionaries  was  of  a  peculiar  nature,  a 
combination  of  body-servant,  farm-hand  and  hunter,  rendered  neces¬ 
sary  by  the  wildness  and  roughness  of  the  country,  and  the  zeal  of 
the  missionaries  for  the  ingathering  of  the  harvest  of  souls  before 
them  to  the  exclusion  of  their  own  bodily  comfort  or  welfare.  Most 
of  the  Canadian  missionaries  were  men  of  delicate  nature  and  high 
education,  little  fitted  for  the  hardships  of  their  life,  and  as  little 
fitted  for  the  manual  labors  necessary  around  their  mission  stations. 
Occasionally  there  came  a  brave  heart  like  Breboeuf  or  Dollier  de 
Casson,  able  and  ready  to  buffet  any  kind  of  a  storm;  but  their  na¬ 
tures  were  more  than  ordinary  natures,  and  they  serve  but  to  accentu¬ 
ate  the  common  life  of  the  others.  The  missionaries  could  not  de¬ 
pend  for  their  food  upon  the  generosity  of  the  Indian  hunters,  and 
so  they  early  began  to  employ  young  French  Canadians  to  hunt, 
fish  and  till  the  ground  for  them.  These  young  men  were  known  as 
donnes  and  engages,  the  former  giving  their  services,  and  the  latter 
receiving  a  small  salary.  Perrot  was  enrolled  among  the  engages. 
These  men  not  only  labored  for  the  fathers  around  the  mission  sta¬ 
tions,  but  accompanied  them  on  long  voyages,  caring  for  their  needs, 
and  sharing  their  dangers  and  privations,  as  in  the  case  of  Jean 
Guerin,  who  served  Father  Menard.  No  doubt  in  this  close  com¬ 
panionship  they  received  much  instruction  in  temporal  as  well  as  in 
spiritual  affairs.  The  nature  of  the  country,  and  the  language  and 
customs  of  the  Indians  around  them  were  ever  fruitful  topics,  and  it 
is  not  unlikely  that  we  owe  the  writing  of  Perrot’s  Memoires  to  im¬ 
pressions  he  received  at  an  Indian  campfire,  from  some  Jesuit  father. 

3.  Prof.  J.  D.  Butler,  Wisconsin  Historical  Colections,  Volume  VIII,  page  200. 

•4.  Tailhan-Perrot’s  Memoire,  page  257. 


1 


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Nicholas  perrot.  3 

Perrot  remained  at  this  employment  some  four  or  five  years5, 
learning  much  about  the  Indians  and  their  life;  and  in  1665  he  came 
West  for  the  first  time  as  his  own  master,  free  to  follow  his  own 
plans.  He  was  at  this  time  about  twenty-one  years  old,  and  was 
already  imbued  with  the  importance  of  combining  the  western  In¬ 
dians  against  their  common  enemy,  the  Iroquois;  and  fully  alive 
to  the  advantages  of  allying  them  to  the  French.  The  Pottawattomies 
believed  that  his  coming  brought  them  great  good  fortune,  although 
his  firearms  alarmed  them,  and  his  appearance  excited  great  sur¬ 
prise.  Tailhan  says:  “They  did  not  think  the  French  were  men, 
modelled  in  form  like  themselves.”  Perrot  was  feasted  and  smoked 
over  as  a  god,  and  these  poor  savages  even  assigned  supernatural 
powers  to  his  hatchet  and  knives,  and  to  his  various  articles  of  cloth¬ 
ing.  But  as  Tailhan  says,0  Perrot  was  no.  vulgar  trafficker  turning 
all  this  to  his  personal  advantage.  He  learned  that  his  hosts,  the 
Pottawattomies,  were  about  to  become  embroiled  with  their  neigh¬ 
bors,  the  Maloumines  or  Menominees,  and  he  offered  his  services  as 
peacemaker,  and  at  once  set  out  for  the  Menominee  village.  The  Me¬ 
nominees  had  some  knowledge  of  the  French  and  considered  them¬ 
selves  greatly  honored  by  his  visit.  It  required  only  a  little  per¬ 
suasion  to  get  them  to  forego  their  war-like  plans.  Perrot  then  re¬ 
turned  to  the  Pottawattomies,  and  wished  to  visit  other  neighboring 
tribes.  His  hosts  endeavored  to  dissuade  him,  and  for  a  while 
succeeded  in  doing  so.  They  knew  the  advantages  of  their  geo- 
graphal  position,  and  wished  to  become  the  intermediaries  between 
the  French  and  the  western  Indians,  monopolizing  the  trade  in  beaver 
and  other  valuable  skins.  But  Perrot  penetrated  their  designs,  and 
in  spite  of  their  warnings  about  the  fierceness  of  the  men  whom  he 
would  meet,  and  the  difficulties  of  the  journey,  he  set  out  with 
some  Sac  Indians  in  the  spring  of  the  following  year  to  visit  the  Fox 
village  on  the  Wolf  River.  Taking  the  route  so  often  travelled  in 
later  years,  he  passed  up  the  Fox  River,  through  Lakes  Winnebago 
and  Butte  des  Morts  to  the  village  of  the  Foxes,  or  Outagamies.  He 
found  these  Indians  in  a  state  of  destitution,  the  sight  of  their  misery 
exciting  his  compassion.  Their  arrogance,  however,  and  the  bad  re¬ 
ports  he  had  received  concerning  them,  led  him  to  withdraw  from 
them,  leaving  the  Sacs  among  them,  to  trade  in  his  interests.  The 
good  judgment  he  here  displayed  bore  fruit  in  later  years,  the  Foxes 
saving  him  at  one  time  from  being  burned  by  the  Miamis,  and  always 
showing  him  an  unusual  confidence  and  affection. 

The  Mascoutins  and  Miamis,  dwelling  on  the  upper  Fox  and  to 
the  south  of  it,  had  heard  from  the  Hurons  and  Ottawas,  fleeing  from 
the  Iroquois,  about  the  French,  their  bravery,  and  their  firearms  and 
improved  tools.  Learning  that  the  French  were  among  the  Potta¬ 
wattomies,  they  sent  an  invitation  to  the  latter  to  visit  them,  and 

5.  Tailhan-Perrot’s  Memoire,  page  258. 

6.  Tailban-Perrot’a  Meinoire,  page  260. 


p  80777 


4 


NICHOLAS  PERROT. 


to  bring  the  Frenchmen  with  them.  But  the  Pottawattomies  did  not 
wish  to  place  the  French  in  communication  with  their  own  western 
customers,  and  so  they  set  out  alone,  leaving  Perrot  at  the  Bay  with 
no  knowledge  of  the  invitation.  But  a  Mascoutin  and  a  Miami  finally 
reached  him  in  person,  and  he  started  with  them  for  their  villages, 
despite  the  many  objections  of  the  Pottawattomies.  He  was  received 
with  high  honors,  being  smoked  with  and  addressed  in  speeches  of 
great  length;  and  in  turn  he  made  a  speech  which  he  ended  with 
piesents,  among  other  things  a  gun  to  the  warriors,  a  kettle  to  the 
old  men,  and  a  knife  to  the  women,  “to  render  the  accomplishment  of 
their  daily  tasks  more  easy.”  Eight  days  later  the  Miami  chief 
gave  a  great  feast.  In  the  center  of  the  banquet  hall  was  a  kind  of 
altar,  erected  to  the  Indian  gods  in  whose  honor  the  feast  was  given. 
When  he  learned  of  this,  Perrot  refused  to  eat,  until  the  chief  be¬ 
sought  him  to  eat  to  the  great  spirit  of  the  French,  and  added  that 
he  hoped  for  as  much  help  from  that  source  as  from  the  gods  he  had 
ordinarily  worshipped. 

The  Pottawattomies  sent  emissaries  to  the  allied  Miamis  and 
Mascoutins,  hoping  to  prevent  any  treaty  or  alliance  between  them 
and  the  French.  Unluckily  for  their  plans,  these  emissaries  told  their 
lies  in  Perrot’s  presence,  thus  enabling  him  to  counteract  their  in¬ 
fluence.  And  a  treaty  was  finally  concluded.  On  his  return  to  the 
Bay,  the  Pottawattomies  disavowed  any  action  on  their  part  against 
the  French;  but  Perrot’s  manner  showed  them  that  he  had  no  con¬ 
fidence  in  their  protestations,  and  they  presented  him  with  a  bag  of 
corn  and  five  beaver  robes  to  remove  the  anger  from  his  heart. 

Tailhan  attaches  great  importance  to  this  visit  of  Perrot  to  the 
Miamis  and  Mascoutins,7  as  it  brought  the  French  into  friendly 
communication  with  the  kindred  of  the  Illinois,  and  gave  them  their 
first  footing  in  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  Having  obtained 
this  footing,  the  discovery  of  the  river  itself  and  the  opening  up  of 
the  country  were  only  questions  of  time. 

These  two  journeys  are  the  only  ones  of  Perrot,  during  these 
years,  of  which  we  have  any  record.  But  it  seems  right  to  suppose 
that  between  1665  and  1670  he  visited  most  of  the  western  tribes,  and 
was  highly  esteemed  by  them,  and  acquired  great  influence  over 
them.  We  are  told  that  the  Ottawas  loved  him,  and  the  various  na 
lions  of  the  Bay  regarded  him  as  their  father.  With  the  Foxes  his 
influence  was  stronger  than  that  of  all  other  Frenchmen.  In  the 
spring  of  1670,  after  five  years  among  these  western  Indians,  he 
started  for  the  French  settlements,  joining  a  flotilla  of  thirty  canoes 
bound  from  the  Bay  to  Montreal.  Joined  on  the  way  by  many 
Ottawas,  the  party  followed  the  Ottawa  route,  French  River,  Lake 
Nipissing  and  the  Ottawa  River,  to  Montreal.  As  Perrot  says,  “More 


7.  Tailhan-Perrot’s  Memolre,  page  276. 


NICHOLAS  PERROT. 


5 


than  nine  hundred  Ottawas  came  down  to  Montreal  in  canoes.  We 
were  five  Frenchmen  in  their  company.”8 

Most  of  the  party,  finishing  their  trading,  soon  turned  their 
faces  westward,  but  Perrot  remained  behind  and  in  July  visited  Que¬ 
bec.  Talon,  the  acute  intendant,  had  before  this  written  from 
France  to  Courcelles,  the  governor.  He  advised  the  selection  of 
some  man  of  known  influence  among  the  western  Indians,  that  under 
such  leadership  they  might  be  gathered  at  some  convenient  place, 
there  to  acknowledge  their  dependency  on  the  French  crown.  Charle¬ 
voix  says:  “For  this  purpose  none  bettter  could  be  found  than 
Nicolas  Perrot,”  9and  he  was  accordingly  selected.  Talon  confirmed 
the  selection  on  his  arrival  from  France,  soon  after.  The  action  of 
the  French  in  taking  formal  possession  of  the  western  country  was 
hastened  by  their  jealousy  of  the  English  at  Hudson’s  Bay,  and  Sr. 
Lusson  was  commissioned  for  this  purpose  Sept.  3d,  1670.  As  the 
centralized  monarchy  was  fast  superseding  the  old  feudal  govern¬ 
ment,  it  was  the  sub-delegate  of  the  intendant,  rather  than  the  repre¬ 
sentative  of  the  governor,  who  was  to  play  the  prominent  part  in  the 
scene. 

In  October  the  party  left  Montreal,  small  in  numbers,  but  the 
“indispensable  Perrot”  was  among  them.  Reaching  Manitouli,n 
Island  late  in  the  year,  it  was  decided  that  Perrot,  after  sending  mes¬ 
sages  to  the  northern  tribes,  should  hurry  on  to  summon  the  western 
Indians  in  person,  leaving  St.  Lusson  to  winter  on  the  island.  At 
Green  Bay,10  for  he  went  no  further  west,  Perrot  found  the  great 
chief  of  the  Miamis,  Tetinchoua  by  name.  This  chief  was  always 
accompanied  by  a  body  guard  of  thirty  or  forty  chosen  warriors,  and 
held  himself  away  from  his  people,  rarely  giving  dirept  orders,  but: 
transmitting  his  wishes  through  his  officers.11  He  is  reported  to 
have  had  four  or  five  thousand  warriors  under  his  command.  When 
lie  was  told  of  Perrot’s  approach,  he  sent  a  detail  to  receive  him  and 
escort  him  into  camp.  This  detail  advanced  in  warlike  array,  brand¬ 
ishing  their  weapons,  and  uttering  their  war  cries.  Perrot’s  party 
prepared  themselves  in  like  style.  When  they  came  face  to  face  there 
was  a  momentary  halt,  after  which  the  Miamis  in  single  file  ran  to 
the  left,  and  Perrot’s  Pottawattomies  to  the  right.  The  Miamis  be¬ 
ing  much  the  larger  party,  completely  surrounded  the  Pottawatto¬ 
mies.  A  mock  fight  ensued,  guns  being  fired  and  tomahawks  used, 
after  which  peace  was  declared,  the  calumet  was  smoked,  and  Perrot 
was  escorted  to  Tetinchoua.1  The  chief  entertained  him  royally  after 
the  Miami  custom,  among  other  things  giving  him  an  escort  of  fifty 


8.  Perrot’s  Memoire,  page  119. 

9.  History  of  New  France,  Shea’s  translation,  Volume  III,  page  165. 

10.  Charlevoix  places  this  meeting  at  Chicagou.  See  Parkman,  La  Salle  and 
Discovery  of  the  Great  West,  page  4l,  note. 

11.  Parkman  thought  that  these  statements  would  he  considered  preposterous  if 
they  were  net  corroborated  by  Dablon,  La  Salle  and  Discovery  of  the  Great  West, 
page  41. 


6 


NICHOLAS  PERROT. 


Miamis.  Then  Perrot  stated  his  errand.  Tetinchoua  wished  to  ac¬ 
company  him  to  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  but  he  was  old  and  growing  feeble, 
and  was  finally  persuaded  by  the  Pottawattomies  not  to  go  in  person, 
but  to  authorize  them  to  represent  him  and  his  people.  Perrot’s 
great  influence  among  the  other  western  tribes  enabled  him  to  per¬ 
suade  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  Pottawattomies,  Sacs,  Winnebagos 
and  Menominees  to  accompany  him  to  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  the  ap¬ 
pointed  meeting  place.  The  chiefs  of  the  Foxes,  Mascoutins  and 
Kickapoos  were  at  the  Bay,  but  would  go  no  further.  Perrot  says 
that  on.  his  arrival  at  the  Sault,  on  May  5th,  1671,  he  found  not  only 
the  chiefs  of  the  northern  tribes,  but  also  those  of  the  Kiristinons  and 
the  Monsonis  from  the  Hudson  Bay  country,  with  all  their  neighbors; 
also  the  chiefs  of  the  Nipissings,  the  Amikouets  and  the  Saulteurs  of 
the  immediate  vicinity.12  The  Hurons  and  Ottawas  did  not  arrive 
until  after  the  ceremonies  were  completed,  the  Ottawas  accompanied 
by  Father  Marquette. 

The  ceremony  began  with  a  speech  after  the  Indian  style  and  in 
the  Algonquin  tongue  by  Father  Allouez,  showing  forth  the  giories 
of  the  French  king,  Louis  XIV.,  “he  of  infamous  memory,”  and  the 
great  advantages  accruing  to  the  Indians  from  so  powerful  an  ally, 
and  proposing  that  all  present  join  in  acknowledging  him  as  their 
head  chief.  St.  Lusson,  interpreted  by  Father  Allouez,  followed  in 
a  brief  speech  in  which  he  asked  if  all  agreed  to  the  proposition. 
He  was  met  by  presents  and  cries  of  assent  from  the  Indians,  and 
"Live  the  King”  from  the  Frenchmen.  One  writer  states  that  the 
Indians  repeatedly  threw  earth  into  the  air  as  an  additional  token 
of  their  submission.  Then,  while  the  Frenchmen  sang  the  Vexilla 
Regis,  a  hymn  of  the  seventh  century,  Perrot  directed  the  digging  of 
two  holes,  and  the  planting  of  a  cedar  pole  in  one,  and  a  cedar  cross 
in  the  other.  To  the  accompaniment  of  the  Exaudiat,  the  20B1 
psalm,  the  arms  of  France  imprinted  on  a  leaden  block  were  then 
fastened  to  the  pole.  St.  Lusson  with  sword  in  hand  followed  with 
a  declaration  that  the  country  was  by  these  ceremonies  given  to  the 
king,  and  all  its  inhabitants  were  placed  under  his  protection.  This 
speech  was  received  in  characteristic  manner  by  both  French  and 
Indians,  and  the  ceremonies  were  concluded  with  the  singing  ot  the 
Te  Deum.  The  documentary  return  of  the  affair  was  signed  by  St. 
Lusson,  Perrot  as  interpreter,  Fathers  Dablon,  Allouez,  Andre  and 
Dreuillettes  and  fourteen  others,  among  them  Louis  Jolliet.  All  the 
ceremonies  being  completed,  the  Indian  Tribes  returned  each  to  its 
own  country,  and  all  lived  in  harmony  for  several  years.  Perrot  and 
Jolliet  returned  to  Quebec  with  St.  Lusson.  It  is  perhaps  worthy 
of  note  that  the  Indians  pulled  down  the  arms  of  France  about  as 
soon  as  the  Frenchmen  had  departed.  Courcelles  and  Talon  got  into 
trouble  and  the  governor  was  recalled  late  in  1671.  Courcelles  was 
succeeded  by  Louis  de  Buade,  Count  Frontenac. 

12.  Perrot’s  Mejuoire,  page  127. 


NICHOLAS  PERROT. 


7 


One  of  the  greatest  of  the  rulers  of  New  France,  Frontenac’s 
frank  and  somewhat  choleric  nature  had  but  little  in  common  with  the 
Jesuits.  He  was  continually  having  trouble  with  them  and  their 
friends.  Unlike  most  of  the  voyageurs,  Perrot  was  a  good  church¬ 
man  and  a  firm  friend  of  the  priests,  and  so  he  came  under  the  ban. 
Perhaps  his  enforced  idleness  in  the  settlements  turned  his  thoughts 
in  other  directions.  At  any  rate  during  this  year,  1671,  he  married 
Marie  Madeline  Raclot,  who  brought  him  a  considerable  fortune. 
For  the  next  ten  years  he  lived  in  retirement  with  his  wife  and  chil¬ 
dren  at  the  seignory,  Becancour,  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  near  Three 
Rivers.  This  must  have  been  the  most  comfortable  and  in  many  ways 
the  pleasantest  period  of  Perrot’s  life.13 

The  French  archivist,  Margry,  has  printed  a  record  of  talks  with 
La  Salle  by  some  unknown  person,  who  he  thinks  was  the  Abbe 
Renaudot,  a  learned  churchman.  In  this  record  one  Nicolas  Perrot, 
otherwise  known  as  Jolycoeur,  a  house  servant,  is  accused  of  an  at¬ 
tempt  to  poison  La  Salle  by  putting  hemlock  in  a  salad,  about  1678. 
Parkman  states  that  this  anonymous  manuscript  is  sometimes  sup¬ 
ported  by  contemporaneous  accounts,  and  sometimes  rests  solely 
upon  itself.14  He  partially  endorses  it,  and  adds  that  “this  places  the 
character  of  Perrot  in  a  new  light;  for  it  is  not  likely  that  any  other 
can  be  meant  than  the  famous  v®yageur,”15  and  then  in  half  defense 
says  that  poisoning  was  a  common  crime  in  those  days,  persons  of 
high  rank  being  often  accused,  of  it.  Winsor  says:  “There  is  a 
strong  tendency  among  careful  investigators  to  give  it  scant  cre¬ 
dence,”10  referring  to  the  whole  account. 

Even  if  we  follow  Parkman  in  accepting  the  paper,  we  may  be 
justified  in  refusing  to  identify  our  Perrot  as  the  culprit,  first,  be¬ 
cause  this  was  the  period  of  his  greatest  prosperity,  and  it  is  ex¬ 
tremely  improbable  that  he  would  be  in  any  one’s  domestic  service; 
second,  the  pseudonym  Jolycoeur,  if  applied  to  such  a  well-known 
man  as  our  Perrot,  would  be  very  likely  to  occur  elsewhere,  whereas 
Parkman  says  he  has  been  unable  to  find  mention  of  it  in  any  other 
connection;  and  third,  such  an  act  is  entirely  out  of  harmony  with 
his  nature,  as  it  is  shown  to  us  in  well  authenticated  records.  The 
only  motive  that  can  be  alleged  for  such  an  act  is  a  blind  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  the  Jesuits.  While  a  man  of  Perrot’s  training  and 
experience  might  have  knocked  a  man  on  the  head  for  the  priests, 
such  a  man  is  hardly  the  one  to  enter  another’s  employ  in  the  de¬ 
liberate  purpose  of  poisoning  him,  or  the  one  to  carry  such  a  plan 
to  successful  issue. 


13.  Perrot’s  child,  Francois,  was  horn  at  Three  Rivers,  August  8,  1672:  Nicolas, 
in  1674;  Clemence,  1676;  Michel,  1677;  Marie,  1679;  Marie  Anne,  July  25,  1681; 

Claude,  - ;  Jean  Baptiste,  1688;  Jean,  August  15,  1690.  Neill,  in  Narrative  and 

Critical  History,  Volume  IV,  page  191,  note. 

14.  Winsor,  in  Narrative  and  Critical  History,  Volume  IV,  pages  242-246,  givey 
a  full  bibliography  of  the  discussion  on  the  historical  value  of  the  manuscript, 

15.  La  Salle,  etc.,  page  104  and  note. 

16.  Cartier  to  Frontenac,  page  223, 


8 


NICHOLAS  PERROT. 


By  1681  Perrot  must  have  been  trading  again,  as  Du  Chesneau, 
the  intendant,  complains  to  Seignelay  (Nov.  13th)  that  “the  governor, 
Sieurs  Perrot,  Boisseau,  Du  Lhut  and  Patron  are  sending  peltries  to 

the  English.”17  In  1683  he  was  sent  westward  again  to  gather  up 

the  allies  of  France,  and  get  them  ready  for  an  expedition  against 
the  Iroquois.  The  following  year  he  arrived  at  Mackinac  on  a  trad¬ 
ing  trip  to  find  the  commandant  Durantaye  and  the  famous  Du  Lhut 
vainly  attempting  to  get  the  Indians  to  go  to  Niagara,  there  to  join 
the  governor,  La  Barre,  in  an  expedition  against  the  Iroquois.  Du 
Lhut  besought  Perrot’s  assistance.  This  was  readily  given,  and  about 
five  hundred  warriors,  Ojibwas,  Foxes,  Hurons,  Ottawas  and  Potta- 
wattomies  set  out  for  Niagara  with  more  than  one  hundred  French¬ 
men.  Charlevoix  says  that  Perrot  gained  the  Indians  over  by  show¬ 
ing  them  that  they  (the  Indians)  had  much  more  to  fear  from  the 

Iroquois  than  had  the  French,  and  that  therefore  they  ought  to 

give  ready  assistance  to  any  movement  the  French  might  choose  to 
make  against  the  Iroquois.  Upon  their  arrival  at  Niagara  they  found 
that  La  Barre,  whose  whole  policy  was  weak,  had  concluded  a  truce 
with  the  Iroquois.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  turn  homeward, 
which  they  did  in  some  indignation.  Parkman  describes  at  some 
length  the  difficulties  which  Perrot  overcame  on  the  way  to  Niagara, 
how  he  humored  their  fancies,  oVfercame  their  superstitions,  and 
taunted  them  into  a  semblance  of  bravery.18  At  the  close  of  this 
campaign,  Perrot  returned  to  Becancour,  where  he  had  a  house 
and  eighteen  arpents  of  land.  While  through  his  wife  he  had  inher¬ 
ited  considerable  money,  his  affairs  at  this  time  were  in  a  very 
embarrassed  condition.  He  had  left  his  furs  in  the  west,  when  at 
the  call  of  the  government  he  had  collected  the  Indians  and  led 
them  eastward.  Indeed,  for  several  years,  only  a  few  western  furs 
reached  Montreal,  the  passage  of  small  parties  being  extremely  haz¬ 
ardous  because  of  the  Iroquois,  whose  war  parties  were  continually 
along  the  Ottawa.  A  letter  from  Perrot  to  one  of  his  creditors 
has  been  preserved.19  It  is  dated  August  20th,  1684.  In  it  he  acknowl¬ 
edges  the  debt,  and  explains  that  he  has  been  unable  to  bring  any 
furs.  He  then  authorizes  his  creditor  to  sell  furs  to  satisfy  the  debt 
from  the  first  of  Perrot’s  which  come  down. 

In  the  spring  of  1685,  Perrot  was  sent  to  take  chief  command 
at  Green  Bay  and  its  dependencies,  and  his  authority  was  also  to 
extend  over  any  new  regions  to  the  westward  which  he  might  ex¬ 
plore.  He  took  twenty  men  with  him  from  Montreal,  and  arrived 
at  Green  Bay  just  in  time  to  prevent  a  threatened  war  between  the 
Foxes  and  Ojibwas.20  Here  he  was  told  by  some  of  the  Indians 
of  the  western  countries  where  there  were  precious  stones,  and  also 


17.  Neill,  in  Narrative  and  Critical  History,  Volume  IV,  page  185. 

18.  Frontenac  and  Louis  XIV  in  New  France,  page  112. 

19.  Tailhan,  Perrot’s  Memoire,  page  301. 

. —  20.  His  influence  was  greatly  increased  by  his  rescuing  a  maiden  of  one  tribe 
from  the  hands  of  the  other. 


NICHOLAS  PERROT. 


9 


men  like  the  Frenchmen — probably  the  Spaniards  of  New  Mexico. 
Other  Indians  showed  hatchets  which  they  had  bought  from  ihe 
English  at  Hudson’s  Bay — the  men  who  lived  in  the  house  that 
walked  on  the  water.  After  settling  the  difficulties  at  the  Bay,  Perrot 
started  westward  over  the  well-known  Fox-Wisconsin  route  to  ex¬ 
plore  the  country  of  the  Sioux,  and  if  advisable  to  establish  a  trading 
post.  When  he  reached  the  Mississippi  he  sent  word  to  the  “Aiouez” 
(lowas,  a  Sioux  tribe)  that  he  was  about  to  locate  among  them  for 
trading,  and  that  they  could  find  him  by  the  smoke  which  would 
rise  from  his  fires.  He  soon  found  a  suitable  place,  convenient  to 
water  and  wood,  “at  the  foot  of  a  high  hill,  behind  which  there  was 
v.  large  prairie.”  This  was  near  the  site  of  the  present  town  of 
Trempeleau.  Eleven  days  later  some  of  the  lowas  reached  the  river 
quite  a  distance  above  Perrot’s  camp,  and  he  went  up  to  meet  them. 
As  he  approached,  the  Indian  women  disappeared  in  the  woods  but 
a  number  of  the  men  drew  near  and  escorted  him  to  the  cabin  of  the 
chief.  Then  Perrot  was  subjected  to  that  curious  ceremony  of  the 
Sioux  described  by  Radisson,  Hennepin  and  other  early  writers.  The 
Sioux  chieftain,  relieved,  when  exhausted,  by  his  principal  retainers, 
wept  over  him  until  he  was  thoroughly  wet  from  the  process,  the 
chief  being  careful  to  stand  in  such  a  position  that  his  tears  would 
fall  on  his  guest.  After  the  completion  of  this  ordeal,  boiled  buffalo 
tongues  were  served,  the  chief  placing  a  small  piece  in  Perrot’s 
mouth,  as  an  expression  of  his  great  respect  for  his  visitor. 

Perrot  traded  with  the  Sioux  all  of  the  winter,  and  during  the 
time  he  moved  up  the  river  and  built  the  post  known  as  Ft.  St.  An¬ 
toine.  In  the  mean  time  another  expedition  against  the  Iroquis  had 
been  planned,  and  Perrot  was  ordered  to  gather  up  his  Indain  war¬ 
riors  and  start  eastward.  During  the  summer  he  visited  the  Miamis, 
but  he  was  among  the  Sioux  when  this  order  reached  him,  and  his 
canoes  had  been  destroyed  by  ice  during  the  winter.  But  before 
long  he  reached  Green  Bay,  accompanied  by  some  of  his  Indians, 
whom  Parkman  describes  as  “a  race  unsteady  as  aspens,  and  fierce 
as  wild  cats;  full  of  mutual  jealousies,  without  rulers  and  without 
laws.”21  It  was  at  this  time  that  Perrot  gave  to  the  fathers  of  che 
Jesuit  mission  of  the  Bay  the  silver  monstrance  before  described. 

In  June  1687  Durantaye  left  his  post  at  Mackinac  with  a  “horde 
of  western  Indians,”  and  was  followed  soon  after  by  Perrot.  Tonty 
also  joined  this  expedition,  which  proceeded  to  Niagara,  capturing 
two  English  trading  parties  on  the  way,  sixty  persons  in  all,  and 
much  valuable  plunder.  Then  it  turned  eastward  and  joined  the  main 
expedition  under  the  governor,  Denonville.  This  expedition  accom¬ 
plished  nothing  but  the  destruction  of  the  town  and  crops  of  the 
Senecas.  After  withdrawing  to  Niagara,  Denonville  built  a  fort  and 
then  returned  to  Canada.  But  while  all  this  was  going  on  a  grievous 
calamity  had  befallen  Perrot.  A  large  party  of  Mascoutins,  Foxes 

21.  Frontenac  and  Louis'  XIV  in  New  France,  page  145. 


10 


NICHOLAS  PERROT. 


and  Kickapoos  had  combined  in  an  attack  on  the  French  at  Green 
Bay,  which  was  entirely  successful.  They  burned  the  mission  build¬ 
ings  and  the  warehouses,  and  carried  away  almost  everything  of 
value.  Perrot  was  the  greatest  sufferer,  losing  furs  valued  at  40,000 
livres,  about  $7,500.22  He  had  received  no  pay  from  the  govern¬ 
ment  for  his  great  services,  beyond  the  right  of  trading.  These 
furs  were  the  result  of  two  or  more  years  trading,  held  at  the  Bay 
because  of  the  Iroquois  wars,  and  their  loss  left  him  very  poor. 

In  1688  he  was  ordered  to  return  to  the  Mississippi  and  take 
formal  possession  of  the  country  in  the  name  of  the  King.  He 
reached  the  Bay  in  the  fall,  accompanied  by  forty  men.  Here  he 
had  a  conference  with  the  Foxes,  and  then  went  on  to  his  post  on 
the  Mississippi,  some  Pottawattomies  assisting  in  the  transportation 
of  his  goods.  As  soon  as  the  ice  was  out  in  the  spring,  the  Sioux 
gathered  around  him  to  trade.  He  was  carried  to  one  of  their 
villages,  around  which  he  was  escorted  by  a  procession  of  warriors, 
singing  and  each  carrying  a  pipe.  Then  he  was  again  subjected 
to  the  wetting  process  previously  performed  over  him  by  the  Iowas. 
He  took  occasion  at  this  time  to  complain  of  an  attempted  robbery 
of  his  post  by  a  Sioux  chief  after  he  had  left  the  country  in  1686. 

On  the  8th  of  May,  1689,  Perrot  took  possession  of  the  country, 
in  the  presence  of  the  Jesuit  Marest,  Le  Seuer,  Boisguillot  and  four 
other  Frenchmen.  The  ceremonies  were  similar  to  those  of  St. 
Lusson  eighteen  years  before  at  the  Sault,  and  took  place  at  Ft.  St. 
Antoine  on  the  Wisconsin  shore  of  Lake  Pepin.23  Late  in  the  year 
Perrot  went  to  Quebec,  whence  Frontenac,  again  appointed  gover¬ 
nor,  sent  him  with  Louvigny’s  expedition  to  Mackinac  to  allay 
troubles  among  the  Ottawas.  Frontenac  thus  writes  to  Seignelay:24 
“I  also  sent  Sieur  Nicolas  Perrot,  an  inhabitant  of  the  upper 
part  of  this  country,  who  by  the  long  practise  and  knowledge  he  has 
of  the  dispositions,  manners  and  languages  of  all  the  nations  of  the 
upper  part  of  this  country  has  acquired  much  influence  among 
them.”  The  Ottawas  plotted  the  destruction  of  all  the  outlying 
French  posts,  and  the  robbing  or  killing  of  the  French  traders. 
“But,”  Parkman  says,25  “Perrot  took  the  disaffected  chiefs  aside 
and  by  his  usual  bold  adroitness  diverted  them  from  their  purposes.” 
This  mission  successfully  accomplished,  he  was  returned  to  his  Wis¬ 
consin  posts  and  duties. 

On  the  Wisconsin  River  he  met  a  delegation  of  Miamis  who 
wished  him  to  establish  a  trading  post  among  them,  because  the 
Pottawattomies  paid  them  so  little  for  furs,  and  charged  them  so 
much  for  supplies.  Among  other  presents  they  gave  him  a  small 
specimen  of  lead  ore,  which  they  said  came  from  one  of  the  small 

22.  La  Potherie,  quoted  by  Hebberd,  Wisconsin  Under  the  Dominion  of  France, 
page  63. 

23.  See.  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  Volume  XI,  page  35,  for  the  text  of 
Perrot’s  minute  of  taking  possession. 

24.  Wisconsin  Historical  Collections,  Volume  V,  page  65. 

25.  Frontenac  and  New  France  under  Louis  XIV,  page  206. 


NICHOLAS  PER  ROT. 


11 


tributaries  of  the  Mississippi.  Perrot  investigated  and  promised  to 
build  a  fort.  Within  twenty  days  he  had  built  it  in  a  strong  posi¬ 
tion.  Soon  after,  six  sub-tribes  of  the  Miamis  arrived  and  made  a 
treaty  with  him.  Then  Perrot  hilrried  up  to  Ft.  St.  Antoine  to 
mediate  between  the  Sioux  and  the  Ottawas  and  the  allied  Miamis, 
Mascoutins  and  Outagamies.  Returning  in  a  short  time  he  met 
others  of  the  southern  Indians,  and  visited  and  tested  the  lead  mine 
which  for  years  was  known  by  his  name.  He  says.  “The  lead  was 
hard  to  work  because  it  lay  between  rocks  which  required  blasting. 
It  had  very  little  dross,  and  was  easily  melted.” 

This  new  post  was  probably  on  the  east  shore  of  the  Mississippi 
opposite  the  lead  mines,  and  should  not  be  confounded  with  Perrot’s 
main  post,  Fort  St.  Nicholas,  just  above  the  confluence  of  the  Wis¬ 
consin  and  Mississippi. 

Perrot’s  so-called  forts  have  been  the  subject  of  much  discus¬ 
sion.  In  fact,  none  of  them  were  forts,  properly  so  termed.  Only 
one,  that  one  opposite  the  lead  mines,  was  built  with  much  attention 
to  its  location  for  defence.  All  of  his  posts  were  just  what  Potherie 
calls  them,  establishments,  or  factories  for  trading,  built  in  location-* 
convenient  for  such  a  purpose. 

After  Perrot  was  sent  westward  as  commandant  of  La  Baye  and 
its  dependencies  in  1685,  he  passed'  through  to  the  Mississippi,  and 
put  in  the  winter  with  a  few  companions  “near  a  mountain  behind 
which  was  a  large  prairie.”  Franquelin’s  are  the  best  contempora¬ 
neous  maps  of  this  period,  and  that  of  1688,  which  Parkman  so 
strongly  commends,  shows  “Le  butte  d’hyvernement”  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  Mississippi,  above  the  mouth  of  Black  River.  This  no 
doubt  refers  to  Perrot’s  wintering  place.  The  small  collection  of 
rude  cabins  was  built  not  more  than  a  mile  or  two  from  the  loca¬ 
tion  of  the  present  town  of  Trempealeau.  In  the  Wis.  Hist.  Coll., 
Vol.  X,  pp  505-506, 26  some  ruins  are  described  which  probably  mark 
the  location  of  this  post.  These  ruins  consist  of  eight  small  heaps 
of  stones.  One  of  them  is  described  as  having  been  cleaned  away, 
disclosing  a  hearth  and  fire-place  laid  with  flag-stones,  in  clay  mor¬ 
tar,  the  fire  place  being  five  and  a  half  feet  wide,  and  two  feet  deep, 
the  hearth  two  feet  wider  and  two  feet  deeper.  The  fire  place  was 
covered  with  an  inch  and  a  half  of  ashes,  then  a  layer  of  bones,  and 
finally  with  the  refuse  of  the  chimney  as  it  had  decayed  and  fallen. 
The  chimney  was  probably  built  of  sticks,  chinked  with  mud,  this 
being  the  common  method  in  a  temporary  building. 

Fort  St.  Antoine,  Perrot’s  most  northern  post,  was  located  on 
the  eastern,  the  Wisconsin,  shore  of  Lake  Pepin,  or  Bon  Secours, 
at  it  was  then  called,  about  six  miles  above  the  outlet.  Vestiges  of 
this  fort  were  plainly  visible  forty  years  ago.  It  seems  to  have  been 


26.  Mr.  R.  G.  Thwaites,  Secretary  of  the  Wisconsin  Historical  Society,  writes: 
“These  ruins  were  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  below  the  Black,  and  one  mile 
from  the  village  of  Trempeleau.  They  were  completely  unearthed  in  April,  1888,  by 
8,  party  of  residents  under  my  general  direction,” 


12 


NICHOLAS  PERROT. 


about  sixty  feet  by  forty-five;  and  had  a  pleasant  location  on  a  gentle 
rise,  not  far  from  the  lake.  It  was  probably  built  in  the  early  spring 
of  1686,  as  Perrot  moved  out  from  his  winter  quarters.  This  fort  ap¬ 
pears  on  Franquelin’s  map  of  1688,  and  it  was  here  that  Perrot  in 
1689  performed  the  ceremony  of  taking  possession  of  the  surround¬ 
ing  country,  “in  order  to  render  incontestible  his  Majesty’s  right  to 
the  countries  discovered  by  his  subjects”  on  the  upper  Mississippi. 
Pf  nicaut,  a  companion  of  Le  Seuer,  saw  this  post  in  1700.  He  states 
that  it  then  bore  Perrot’s  name. 

Perrot  also  built  a  fort  on  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Pepin,  at  the 
outlet.  This  was  known  as  Fort  Perrot  and  was  a  place  of  com¬ 
paratively  small  importance. 

The  exact  location  of  Fort  St.  Nicholas  has  caused  more  acri¬ 
monious  dispute  than  any  point  in  Wisconsin  history.  A  goodly 
share  of  Volume  X  of  the  Collections  is  given  up  to  this  question > 
Mr.  C.  W.  Butterfield  opposing  the  views  of  Dr.  Neill,  Prof.  Butler 
and  Mr.  Draper.  Mr.  Draper  seems  to  have  the  best  of  the  argu¬ 
ment,  and  cites  a  great  array  of  authorities  to  prove  that  the  fort 
was  just  above  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  on  the  Mississippi,  111 
other  words,  a  little  below  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Prairie  du 
Chien.27  This  post  was  probably  built  in  1683  at  the  time  when 
Perrot  came  west  to  form  an  alliance  with  and  among  the  .western 
Indians  against  the  Iroquois.  It  was  Boisguillot’s  post  “command¬ 
ing  the  French  near  the  Wisconsin,  on  the  Mississippi,”  when  he 
was  present  at  the  ceremonies  at  Ft.  St.  Antoine  in  1689.  The  post 
was  abandoned  before  1700,  for  Penicaut  makes  no  mention  of  it. 

Perrot’s  southernmost  post,  opposite  the  lead  mines,  has  already 
been  mentioned. 

In  1692  Perrot  was  ordered  to  go  to  the  eastern  Miamis  of 
"V  Marameg,  on  the  St.  Joseph  River,  in  western  Michigan.  He  was 
sent  there  to  prevent  outbreaks  among  them  and  neighboring  tribes, 
and  still  more  to  counteract  the  influence  of  the  English  traders, 
then  beginning  to  come  into  the  country,  and  to  hold  the  Indians  to 
their  allegiance  to  the  French  king.  He  also  retained  his  western 
command,  and  1694  we  find  him  at  Montreal  with  a  mixed  dele¬ 
gation  of  Miamis,  Sacs,  Menominees,  Pottawattomies  and  Foxes. 
This  delegation  was  sent  to  interest  the  French  in  the  establishment 
of  a  fort  on  the  St.  Joseph,  to  thwart  the  supposed  plans  of  the 
Iroquois. 

A  memento  of  Perrot  at  this  period  is  also  preserved  by  the 
Wisconsin  Historical  Society.  It  is  a  note  or  draft  in  the  following 
form : 


27.  Mr.  Thwaites  in  a  personal  note  says:  “It  was  about  half  a  mile  below 
“Lower  Town.’’  at  the  “pip’s  eye.”  Draper  is  right.  I  am  sure.  He  never  exam¬ 
ined  the  ground  in  person;  but  I  have,  in  great  detail,  and  am  willing  heartily  to 
subscribe  to  his  conclusions.” 


NICHOLAS  PERROT. 


13 


“I  consent  that  from  the  first  beaver  which  M.  Le  Seuer  will 
find  at  the  Ottawas  or  elsewhere,  belonging  to  me,  he  pay  himself 
the  sum  of  two  thousand,  and  two  hundred  and  eighty  one  livre, 
eight  sols,  six  deniers,  in  beaver  at  the  rate  of  the  Quebec  office, 
and  this  for  a  same  amount  which  he  paid  to  me  to  my  quittance  to 
M.  Bertrand  Armand,  merchant  at  Montreal.  In  testimony  of  which 
I  have  signed  the  present  made  in  duplicate  at  Montreal  this  28th 
August  1695. 

I  will  pay  the  cartage  of  said  beaver. 

N.  Perrot.”28 

In  1692  or  1693  the  Mascoutins  sought  vengeance  for  the  death 
of  one  of  their  warriors  which  they  attributed  to  Perrot,  and  getting 
him  into  their  village  they  robbed  him  of  all  his  goods.  With  his 
companion,  a  Pottawattomie  chief,  he  was  condemned  to  death  by 
fire.  But  both  escaped  almost  miraculously  while  being  conducted 
to  the  place  of  sacrifice,  and  reached  the  Bay  in  safety. 

From  1695  to  1699  Perrot  passed  the  time  fighting  the  Iroquois 
and  holding  the  western  tribes  together.  In  1696  all  these  western 
tribes  were  restive  and  the  Sioux,  Miamis,  Mascoutins  and  Ottawas 
were  about  to  engage  in  a  four  handed  war.  Perrot  again  essayed 
the  difficult  role  of  peacemaker.  The  Miamis  seized  him  and  would 
have  burned  him  but  for  the  intervention  of  his  faithful  friends,  the 
Foxes.  This  treatment  of  Perrot  aroused  a  great  deal  of  feeling 
among  the  western  tribes,  some  of  them  being  eager  to  avenge  it. 

In  1699  King  Louis  XIV  issued  a  sweeping  order  evacuating 
the  western  posts  and  calling  all  traders  and  soldiers  in  to  the  lower 
country.  The  order  was  peremptory  and  could  not  be  evaded.  It 
closed  Perrot’s  career,  although  for  some  years  the  western  Indians 
complained  of  his  removal  and  sought  for  his  return. 

He  made  claim  against  the  government  for  sums  spent  in  public 
service,  but  this  claim  was  rejected.  He  then  sent  his  claim  to 
France,  but  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession  was  on,  and  Louis 
had  other  uses  for  his  money  than  the  payment  of  just  debts  to  his 
worthy  subjects,  no  matter  what  their  necessity.  So  the  claim  was 
pigeon-holed,  although  Callieres,  the  governor,  had  written:  “He 
is  very  poor.  Large  sums  are  justly  due  him  for  his  services  to 
this  colony.”29  So  far  as  we  know  nothing  was  paid  to  him.  So 
he  resigned  himself  to  end  his  days  in  poverty.  In  this,  says  Tail- 
ban,  he  was  not  much  worse  off  than  others,  the  Durantayes,  for 
example,  and  Jolliet  reduced  to  the  same  extremity. 

Perrot  received  a  proof  of  the  affection  and  esteem  in  which 
he  was  held  by  the  western  tribes,  when,  in  July  and  August,  1701, 
a  general  congress  was  held  at  Montreal.  Ounanguisse,  chief  of 
the  Pottawattomies,  obtained  an  audience  with  the  governor.  Throw- 
ing  a  pack  of  beaver  skins  at  his  feet,  he  said:  “My  father,  I  am 

28.  See  Milwaukee  Sentinel.  May  20,  1896. 

29.  Tailhan,  Perrot’s  Memoire,  page  333. 


14 


NICHOLAS  PERROf. 


come  only  to  hear  your  word.  I  am  the  cause  of  the  coming  of  all 
the  nations  of  Lake  Huron.  I  ask  but  one  favor  because  of  my 
obedience.  Perrot  is  my  body.  I  pray  you  give  him  to  me.  He 
is  the  best  beloved  of  all  the  French  who  have  ever  been  among  us.” 
Nero,  chief  of  the  Foxes,  followed  in  the  same  strain.  And 
he  was  in  turn  followed  by  the  chiefs  of  the  Ottawas,  making  the 
same  request.  Vague  promises  were  made  in  reply,  never  fulfilled, 
and  the  fulfillment  of  which  was  never  intended. 

Vaudreuil,  who  succeeded  Callieres  as  governor,  was  very 
friendly  to  Perrot,  and  conferred  one  or  two  petty  offices  upon 
him  in  1708  and  1710. 

In  1716  trouble  was  on  with  some  of  the  western  tribes,  and 
an  expedition  against  the  Foxes  was  planned.  Perrot,  then  seventy- 
two  years  old,  roused  himself  and  addressed  a  memoir  to  the  gover¬ 
nor  in  behalf  of  his  old  friends.  And  if  an  expedition  must  be  sent 
he  asked  permission  to  accompany  it.  He  assured  the  governor  of 
his  ability  to  settle  the  difficulties  without  bloodshed  or  warfare. 
But  the  decree  had  gone  forth,  Louvigny’s  expedition  had  started, 
the  Foxes  were  to  be  exterminated,  and  the  old  man’s  appeal  was 
of  no  avail. 

This  was  his  last  public  act.  ^The  time  of  his  death  is  not  known. 
He  was  alive  in  1718, 30  and  probably  died  soon  after,  at  his  home 
on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

Tailhan  lists  the  writings  of  Perrot, 

I.  The  Memoir  on  the  Outagamis,  or  Foxes,  written  in  1716, 

'  II.  Some  notes  on  the  wars  of  the  Iroquois,  and 

III.  The  Memoirs  on  the  manners,  customs  and  religion  of  the 
North  American  Indians. 

The  first  and  second  are  lost  to  us,  no  copy,  so  far  as  known, 
having  been  preserved. 

The  third  remained  in  manuscript  until  1864,  when  it  was  pub¬ 
lished  in  the  Bibliotheca  Americana,  a  collection  of  rare  or  unedited 
works  upon  America  by  A.  Frank.  The  editor  was  the  Jesuit  father 
Tailhan.  Charlevoix  saw  the  manuscript,  and  used  it  freely.  He 
says:  “It  is  by  a  voyageur  of  Canada,  Nicholas  Perrot,  who  long 
traversed  almost  all  New  France,  and  was  often  employed  by  the 
Governors-general,  from  his  skill  in  managing  the  minds  of  the 
Indians,  almost  all  of  whose  dialects  he  spoke,  and  whose  customs 
he  had  carefully  studied.  He  was,  moreover,  a  man  of  much 
ability.”31 

Governor  Cadwallader  Colden  translated  portions  of  it,  incor¬ 
porating  the  translations  in  his  “History  of  the  Five  Nations  of 
Canada,”  a  very  good  work  on  the  Iroquois.  John  Gilmary  Shea 
lists  it  among  the  manuscripts  consulted  by  him,  in  preparing  his 


30.  Tailhan,  Perrot’s  Memoire,  page  336. 

31.  History  of  New  Prance,  Shea’s  translation,  Volume  I,  page  94. 


NICHOLAS  PARROT. 


15 


“History  of  the  Catholic  Missions  among  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the 
United  States,”  published  in  1854. 

Some  authorities  think  that  this  manuscript  was  written  in 
Perrot’s  later  years,  after  his  retirement  from  active  life,  but  Harrisse, 
whose  opinion  is  entitled  to  consideration,  says  that  it  bears  evidence 
of  having  been  composed  year  by  year  from  1665  until  his  death.32 

The  volume  as  published  is  a  small  octavo  of  three  hundred  and 
eighty-one  pages.  Perrot’s  matter  fills  one  hundred  and  fifty-six 
pages,  Tailhan’s  notes  and  index  the  rest. 

The  first  twelve  chapters  are  devoted  to  the  religious  beliefs 
and  superstitions  of  the  Indians;  their  marriages  and  funeral  cere¬ 
monies;  their  games  and  hunting  customs,  and  the  manner  of  their 
daily  life. 

The  following  sixteen  chapters  are  more  of  the  nature  of  a 
journal,  and  embrace  accounts  of  various  expeditions  against  the 
Iroquois,  St.  Lusson’s  ceremonies  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  and  other 
actions  in  which  Perrot  was  concerned,  or  of  which  he  had  im¬ 
mediate  knowledge. 

Tailhan’s  notes  are  excellent.  They  include  long  explanatory 
extracts  from  the  Relations,  the  Lettres  Edifiantes,  Charlevoix, 
Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  and  other  authorities,  corrob¬ 
orative  of  Perrot’s  statements. 

As  might  be  expected,  Perrot’s  style  is  rude,  and  often  times 
involved.  Taking  Tailhan’s  notes  in  connection  with  the  text,  how¬ 
ever,  one  cannot  help  being  impressed  by  Perrot’s  fidelity  to  fact, 
and  his  modesty,  which  are  assuredly  the  essentials  in  a  worl^.  of 
this  character.  Gardner  P.  Stickney. 

32.  Geo.  Stewart,  Jr.,  in  Narrative  and  Critical  History,  Volume  IV,  page  359. 

If  writing  from  year  to  year  Perrot  would  hardly  have  given  the  date  1669  for 
the  gathering  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  UDder  St.  Lusson,  an  error  of  two  years. 


V 


